Tuesday, August 27, 2013

By The Sea -Brighton

We couldn't go to England without a trip to the seashore so on Day 2 (yes, all those pictures last week were from Day 1) we headed down to Brighton. Everything is so close in England. A short one-hour train ride from Paddington Station, which happened to be close to our hotel, and we were down by the sea. Actually before we hit the beach, we picked up some Cornish pasties at the train station. Very yummy - a pastry turnover with a savory filling. We tried vegetable, and chicken and vegetable. We could have walked to the beach but my husband's knee was acting up so we took a cab down to the shore.

Lots of people enjoying the beautiful weather. One family was burying their mother in the pebbles - the beach is made of small rounded pebbles. They are surprisingly comfortable to sit on and you don't get sand stuck all over your clothes and feet. In the background, is the Brighton Pier , an amusement park.

Brighton has been a tourist hot-spot since the 1800's and many of the buildings date back to that time. The white and off-white colour of the hotels looks fabulous against the blue sky.

Under the walkway, there are lots of little shops and restaurants. Care for some jellied eel?
It felt very much like going to a fair except there was the added attraction of the ocean. We spent an enjoyable afternoon and took the train back to London. We had hoped to see some of the countryside on our train ride, but that route has many embankments and trees right by the tracks so we rarely got a view into the distance. The glimpses we got showed slightly rolling farm land, not unlike Eastern Ontario.